6 Ways to Self-Indulge and Ease Your Stress Away

Everyday life presents challenges that can take their toll on your physical and emotional health. Although you can’t control circumstances as they come, you can do something to balance the stress.

Self-indulgence, even if done just once in a while, is a vital part of self-care and maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle. When anxiety emerges, pampering yourself will help release your body and mental tension.

To ease your stress, indulge in the things you love to do and consider the ways below.

1. Have a makeover

If you’ve been donning the same clothes, hairstyle and makeup from years ago, maybe it’s time for you to revitalize your look.

Get a new hairstyle

Look over magazine pages, get inspiration from beauty and salon blogs, and consider a new hairstyle to try. Book a haircut from the best hairstylist in your area. An expert hairstyling team will have the skills and aesthetic understanding for them to create a look that will enhance your best features and suit you lifestyle.

Treat your nails to some TLC

Having regular manicure and pedicure sessions is not only something you should do for fashion or appearance’s sake. During nail treatments, you receive a soothing massage on your hands and feet as well. This improves joint mobility and blood circulation.

Moreover, by having regular mani-pedis, you also reduce the risk of developing fungi and other infections in your nails.

Try a new look

Check out the most in-demand beauty salon special services your favorite beauty lounge offers. You'll find a wide range of services that will give you a much-needed makeover. Perhaps you'd like to go for a facial. Or maybe you'd like to liven up your face with lash and brow tinting, lash extensions and brows regrowth. Or you can treat yourself to a fabulous Brazilian blowout. Integrating something new into your life will make you feel instantly reinvigorated.

Update your style

If you spent the last two weeks wearing your old clothes because you’re always in a rush, it’s about time to doll yourself up. Wearing something nice once in a while can actually make you feel good. Every now and then, find time to apply makeup and wear your best clothes.

2. Eat good food

Eating right is the key to a healthy lifestyle. It’s important to keep your diet balanced and nutritious to make sure your get all the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy.

If you don’t have time to cook yourself a good meal every time, take yourself out for a meal at a nice restaurant that serves fresh, nutritious and delicious food. After all your hard work, you deserve to eat good food.

3. Commune with nature

The hustle and bustle of city life can be a real source of stress. Combine it with pollution, it’s easy to see why many choose to live away from urban centers.

Spending time with nature can benefit your mental health. If you’ve been in solitude for months, it’s time to get out of the office and enjoy the outdoors. Being with nature gives you a sense of relief and is an effective way of taking away the stress of city life.

4. Get lost in a book

For most people, reading a good book allows them to expand their horizons and escape reality. Sometimes, you have to get away from “the usual” by getting lost in a book.

Set aside time to go to your local bookstore and schedule in some reading time into your usual routine. You may also enjoy the experience more if you join a book club, and talk about your latest read with friends.

5. Make time for exercise

Exercising your body is the best thing you can do to battle stress. It does seem contradictory at first, but putting some physical stress on the body can actually relieve mental stress.

You can feel the benefits intensely when you make exercise a regular routine. In fact, according to a population-based study, people who exercise often are less likely to suffer from anxiety than those who don't.

Here are the other benefits of a good exercise:

Lowers stress hormones – In time, exercise can lower the body’s level of the stress hormone cortisol. Exercise also releases endorphins, those chemicals which act as painkillers and help improve your mood.

Improves sleep – Most sleep problems are due to stress and anxiety. If you have insomnia, a good exercise can help you sleep better.

You don’t always have to hit the gym to get a good workout. Find quick and simple ways to stay fit no matter how busy you are, such as a quick and efficient HIIT training workout.

6. Do what makes you happy

A study on people with cancer has shown that laughter brings stress relief. Happiness comes when you do the things you love. If you’re into knitting, reading and solving puzzles, running with your dog, watching movies, hiking up a new trail, surfing, dancing or any other activity which gives you pleasure, by all means do it.

Hang out with friends whose company you genuinely enjoy, or watch your favorite show that so that you can find laughter even in the midst of your life’s troubles. Go ahead and have a good laugh! It's actually hard to feel anxious when you're laughing. The bottom-line is, you need to find happiness in your everyday life by indulging in the things that you love.

AUTHOR BIO

Hillary Kozma is the Owner/Managing Director/Creative Director of Kozma & Kozma Salon. Having built the foundation of her skills with an apprenticeship under a direct protege of Vidal Sassoon, Hillary and her husband opened Glow American Salon in Qatar in 2007 before expanding to Dubai as Kozma & Kozma in 2016. Hillary is hailed by the media as a “pioneer in her field” for introducing new talents, concepts, philosophies, and techniques to the Middle East.